Saturday, October 27, 2012

Connor has been super fussy the past few days. He's been sleeping through the night okay, but he's slept very little during the daytime. Yesterday, he woke up before 7 a.m. and stayed awake the entire day, crying and not his usual smiley self. I tried teething tablets, feeding him extra bottles, singing and rocking him to sleep. Nothing seemed to work. By 3:00, I knew it was beyond teething so I called the doctor. Thankfully, they got me right in.

The doctor examined Connor and everything looked good...except when they tested his stool (which hadn't been done since we discovered his milk protein allergy at 8 weeks) and it had blood in it again. I had just started introducing yogurt, cheese and dairy-filled snacks the past couple weeks to see how he'd do and he loved it. But, I guess it finally caught up to him. The doctor isn't sure if it's the soy or milk products that are bothering him (or both), so it's kind of a guessing game. But, for now, we're going with dairy-free foods, unless we hear anything different from the blood test at his one year check-up.

Organic food is expensive and overwhelming to me, but here is what I've found he can eat so far:

No eggs, peanut butter or honey till he's at least 18 months. No mac-n-cheese. No grilled cheese sandwiches. No spaghettios. No goldfish crackers. No vanilla wafers. No pudding. We'll attempt rice or coconut milk when he turns one in December. I'm still trying to figure out alternatives for butter and cheese (if there are any). Let us know if you have any suggestions!

** I just discovered a cheese product called Daiya. They have cheese wedges and shreds free of dairy, soy, gluten, eggs, rice, peanuts and tree nuts. You can find them at most Kroger and Whole Foods stores or you can visit their site here. There's Earth Balance lactose-free butter and mayo found here. Rudi's soy-free 7 Grain bread with flax found here. And Turtle Mountain So Delicious dairy-free soy-free yogurt and ice creams found here.

It's going to be a challenge and a long journey for us, but we're so glad to finally get some answers and get our boy feeling better again.

Also, Annie's has A-MAZ-ING frozen bean & dairy free cheese burritos, dairy free mac & cheese, etc. We buy the gluten free and they taste great - check out Annie's in general - great soups, frozen food, etc. It's at all the major grocery stores here, not at just the specialty ones.

Legumes are a great source of protein that help greatly when dairy is out of the picture too. Add a little olive oil and sea salt to black beans or make a pot of soup beans with fat back - mmmmm. I'm sure the corn bread could be made with rice or coconut milk to go with.

I have also found almond milk to be thicker than rice and coconut. I try to buy vanilla (instead of plain) when at all possible - think it tastes better. Have heard good things about oat milk, but haven't tried that one yet.